Testimonials

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We are all having a trip filled with both lovely accommodations and experiences discovering fascinating Croatia and Slovenia. From Lake Bled to the Julian Alps, Škocjan cave in Slovenia, Rovinj and its old town, Zadar with such a walkable and beautiful old town and great archeological museum, and now Split with Diocletian Palace has been a great adventure. The accommodations you planned are terrific.

—Robert & Joyce I., May 2017

HI Debbie — the trip was everything we expected and more. Singapore and the Grand Hyatt hotel were great. The hotel was well located and we enjoyed the amazing high rise architecture which was like no other city I have been in. It is well-organized, spotlessly clean, and very friendly, courteous people. We visited the central market, Chinatown, Gardens by the Bay and had the best Chinese dinner I’ve ever had at the Mandarin Hotel.

Then we boarded the Seabourn Soujourn and off on 14 wonderful days of pure luxury! Totally spoiled!! Met great people, fine accommodations, and outstanding cuisine.

Our favorite places for unique adventure off shore were, Mekong delta and the boat people, Hoi An Village with its quaint shops, old architecture and Pho, and Ha Long

Bay with the unique geology, floating villages, junk rides and caves. Hong Kong was Hong Kong! Accommodations at the Renaissance Hotel were great.

It was hot and humid but no complaints as I guess it rained in Portland for the three weeks we were gone. All in all, a wonderful, life time, memorable experience!! Thanks for your assistance in helping put this all together. First class travel agent!!!

Hi Barb,the Delta vacation package you recommended was a great value. The flight to and from Amsterdam in business class was outstanding also from a service and meal quality perspective.

The Hotel Citadine is a great choice; the location (next to Pont-Neuf) is unbeatable. Ambience, facilities, and convenience to restaurants was equally valuable, as was access to Metro and the rail service to Versailles. They do have self-service laundry facilities which was very helpful as we were already one week into our trip and 2 weeks to go. We should have chosen a room with view of the Seine for additional money. It would have been worth it, particularly at night when the buildings and bridges are illuminated.

—Ulrich P., France, April 2016

Christina, Again, many thanks for setting up and organizing our trip to France and Amsterdam. All went well and we had a great time. I was pleased that my health did not limit my activities, with the exception of climbing 126 steps up inside a light house!!

Viking river cruise was excellent, the painting class in Arles in the Van Gogh style was fun, and EuroCar was very easy. I think our days in the Dordogne river valley was really the highlight as we drank wine, ate and mixed with the locals.

I was in Saint-Émilion 30 years ago with my daughter and visited a small winery. We found it again and the son is now operating the vineyard and winery. He is the ninth generation operating the vineyard. We had a great visit with him regarding current viticulture etc. Very glad Amilie speaks French. Finishing up in Amsterdam at the Banks Mason Hotel is a good pick. Glad to go and glad to get back.

— Tom M., France & Netherlands, May 2016

Hi Barb, Our trip was very good. I think all of the accommodations you recommended were excellent, except for the funky hotel in Perth, but that’s all there was in Perth and it was well located. Our train trips and connections and side trip to dunning, Scotland, all went well, where we did find where our family is originally from 🙂 The trains were such a fine way to travel easily and see the countryside.

Our 5 day hike of the west highland trail while beautiful, was (too) rigorous—I wouldn’t do that again. Though I’m glad we had the experience and the exercise! Overall, it was a little fast paced for me to fit in all we did in the amount of time we had. I think I am becoming a more leisurely traveler as I, um, mature 🙂 Thank you for the great job you did for us. I so prefer good old WIT to Internet arrangements on my own!

— Peggy R., Scotland, October 2016

Dear Nancy, Let me say first that this was the best vacation we’ve ever taken, and we’ll be talking about it forever. Thank you very much for your guidance in putting together the trip. Each of your choices was perfect. We would never have been able to pack so much into two weeks. We appreciate you!

— Ann and Ed F., Australia 2016

Hi Nancy!!! Just wanted u to know how great r trip was😀. Cadogan Gardens was a lovely place to stay we really had a pleasant stay. They had a great staff lovely rooms fantastic bar. U did it again and Mary is a returning customer for sure🌻🌻

— Susan B. and Mary L. attended the Downton Abbey tea party and stayed at 11 Cadogan Gardens, in the heart of Chelsea, London, Sept 2016

Overall – fabulous trip! We loved the ease of getting around Germany by car this time, and had fun visiting our friends in Munich and Cologne, as well as checking out the Alps and castles in Bavaria, and the winding roads and small villages in the Black Forest.

Portugal was so welcoming – all the people were so friendly, and the landscapes and cities were wonderful places to wander around – all while getting to know their culture and history. We could have easily stayed another day in Lisbon, and probably another two in Porto. We skipped a few things we’d had on our list for the middle of the country just so we could take a few days to really relax – but that just gives us an excuse to go back some day!

— Gregg & Kristi, Germany & Portugal, Aug-Sep 2015

Thank you for making this trip to Paris all that I wanted it to be. The Hotel du Jeu de Paume was outstanding. Right in the heart of Paris, the main dining space actually has the beams from the indoor tennis court that Louis X!!! built. The room was a decent size. The hotel was great about helping me and even kept encouraging me to speak French. The yellow metro line was only about a 7-minute walk from the hotel. Plus the hotel sold the Museum Pass which was very handy for me.

I did a wine and cheese lunch at O Chateau which I had read about in your 2012 newletter. While it was a very basic class, it was fun. Definitely keep on recommending it to your clients. My walk with the author, John Baxter [The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris, Harper Perennial 2011], was outstanding. He is quite well known; he was a film critic before becoming a writer. HIs second wife does documentaries. His first wife happens to live in Portland, Oregon! He has done presentations at Powell’s.

If I go back again, I think I might want to stay in the Montparnasse area. Lunch at L’Arpege was spectacular – not cheap but probably the best meal I have ever eaten. It’s a small restaurant – I think 14 tables. I chose the tasting menu which is where the chef tries out new recipes. I think there were at least 12 courses – just basically amuse bouches – all vegetarian until the very end. He has now added some duck to the menu. Several of the courses had black truffles shaved on them. The lunch lasted well close to 3 hours. At the end,the chef came out and talked with each table. He was very patient with me and my French.

— Nancy, France, January 2015

OMG, thank you so much for helping Margaret and me have an amazing vacation. The dogsled tour was great. We were actually not too tired, even if we had to meet up at 9:00 pm. The driver was so nice, as well as the musher! And the dogs themselves are amazing. They use Greenland huskies, which are much different than Siberian huskies. Since we didn’t have snow, we did it on wheels, and it was still loads of fun.

— Margaret and Wendy, Iceland, November 2014

Considering what a compressed trip it was, with a tight timeline for all our group needed to accomplish, it was great. I especially would like to commend Ruby Gallacher at the coach service and the drivers who took care of us, Bobby and Duncan. What fine folks and obviously a great organization! The communication, timeliness and complete quality of service just could not have been better. I’d recommend them highly for any group travel.

— Robbi, Bagpiper Band of 23 travelers, August 2014

Good Morning Nancy–Our trip, flight, transfers, lodging, car rental all went without a hitch, thanks to you. The UnCruise was outstanding – only 48 passengers so plenty of room to enjoy everything – no wind, plenty of warmth and sunshine too. I would highly recommend this cruise. The bathrooms could use a little updating – shower curtain torn, shower sprayer wouldn’t stay in one place so plenty of water around the bathroom. Other than that food, shore excursions, and staff (WOW!!! what a staff) were terrific.

— Marilyn & David, Un-Cruise to Baja, March 2014

Linda, THANK YOU for everything. The trip was amazing. Our very first flight to Seattle leaving Portland was cancelled, so it didn’t seem like we were off to a great start, but everything from then was great. Emirates is a fantastic airline and the service was impeccable. Something that has long since been forgotten in economy air travel! Our layover in Dubai was seamless and we made it home safe and happy.

— Ryan, flew on Emirates to India, January 2014

Our trip and all the arrangements were “fabulous”!!!! It was a dream come true. We were very happy with Avanti. We loved both hotels and the staff at each one. They gave us excellent recommendations for all of our sites, tours, restaurants and shopping. But I would have to say that Hotel Santa Caterina in Siena was our favorite. The view out of our hotel room window was right out of a movie. They recommended we take a wine class in Siena one day and that was excellent. We had high 70s and low 80s every day. Even the one and only day it rained (we were in Siena taking the wine class so it didn’t really bother us) was warm. One day in Rome it got up to 90+. Wonderful weather. The only time that was a little difficult were the train connections. That can be challenging for first timers. But it all worked out. Thank you so much for all your help. We won’t hesitate to use your services in the future and will recommend you highly. It won’t be our last time going to Italy.

— Kathy & Randy B., vacationed in Italy, October 2013

Just wanted to drop a note to let you know that Jonathan and I had an AMAZING time in Africa! We loved the G Adventures tour. The group was small, the guide was a lot of fun and we saw every animal we wanted to! We have already been thinking about our next trip and will be contacting you soon. Thanks again for all of your help!

— Anne S., G Adventures Tanzania Wildlife Safari trip, December 2012

This was the best vacation of my life! The hotels were great and served excellent food with a lot of fresh fruit, some of which I had never tasted before. My favorite hotel was the one in Monteverde, because there was a hiking trail on the property where we saw many beautiful Morpho butterflies, huge trees and a lovely stream. I saw some parrots from the balcony of our room there. The hot springs on the property of the hotel in Arenal were an extra added bonus to the pools, and Cori and I had a wonderful massage at the spa there.

We had the best guides at each of the places we visited. We appreciated being picked up last for tours, because it gave us a little more time for breakfast in the morning. The horseback ride on the beach was the most fun experience of all for me, because my horse loved to run in the sand. The beach at Tamarindo was extremely well maintained by the hotel staff, and there were no jelly fish or sharks.

The water was a perfect temperature, and the waves were just right for Louis and Cori to surf. The arrangements you made were perfectly wonderful. We are grateful and appreciate your extensive knowledge of the attractions in Costa Rica. Thank you for everything.

— Grace G., vacationed in Costa Rica, August 2012

All of your suggestions were spot on. We had a terrific time (despite my booking the late flight out of Portland) and everything went incredibly smoothly. Thank you for helping me pull this together on such short notice. I am hooked and want to go back every year. Although I think next year is Hawaii. Can’t wait to hear your ideas for that trip 🙂

— Kersti PK, vacationed at Disneyland and Newport Beach, August 2012

Just wanted to give you the feedback was amazing! Thanks for coordinating all of our transfers between airport, hotels, etc… it made everything very seamless for us. We will most definitly be going back!

— Susan W, honeymooned at a resort in Belize

It’s not every day you find a guide who is always one step ahead of you, but through Willamette Travel we found that in travel guide and consultant Richard Bogdan. Willamette travel consultant Pam Davis knew we had an interest in traveling to Europe and through her contacts, we connected with Richard. We wanted to see Hungary and Romania and Richard developed a detailed program. Given Richard grew up in Communist Hungary, he was able to give us an insider’s historical and cultural view into his country and the rest of Europe. We had a great time with him and found that whenever we needed something, or forgot something, he had a solution.

This experience led us to engage Richard to plan several other trips. Together with him, we have seen top sites and off the beaten path cities throughout Europe and the Balkans. We estimate logging more than 10,000 miles on our private tours with him. Richard’s good humored insights and guidance multiplied our trips. We have experienced other guides on other trips, but Richard is far and away the best.

— The Fischers, traveled through Eastern Europe Spring 2012

First of all, I want to thank you so much and give you a huge hug. You did an amazing job and we loved everything you did for us. We loved Napili Kai Beach Resort and absolutely loved our room at Punta Point. Ben especially enjoyed having 2 separate bathrooms since we could get ready and shower at the same time. We enjoyed the happy hour appetizer specials and the complimentary drinks and of course, the lovely champagne you gave us as a gift. It was the perfect touch on our first night in Maui.

You were definitely right in choosing Napili Kai because we were able to swim and snorkel there. The service was amazing and people were so friendly to us especially the concierge who helped us plan our activities. They made great recommendations for places to eat and we loved Merriman’s and Mama’s Fishhouse. Although we did explore the Westin hotel and the Four Seasons, we would definitely come back to Napili Kai if we came back to Maui.

We did the sunset cruise with Gemini, snorkeling at the Molokini crater, drive to Hana, sunrise at Haleakala crater, and enjoyed several beaches in Maui, although we did most of our swimming at Napili Kai. We also loved the convertible that you had arranged for us, which was perfect for our drive to the beaches and to Hana… All in all, we absolutely loved our trip to Maui and Kauai and can’t wait to go back!